|Kama Sutra for 21st Century Lovers screamed quality from the moment I opened the box. I know better than to judge a book by its cover, but the hot pink with silver writing was begging for my attention. A quick thumbing through confirmed my initial impression that Anne Hooper had compiled a quality book.

After the cover, the thing that makes this book stand out from other position guides is that the models are actually attractive. The book features eight unique hetero couples who are not at all the typical dime a dozen porn star and starlet variety. Not only that, but the couples really appear to be passionate and intimate.

First impressions aside, this book offers a brief look at Eastern eroticism. Hooper draws on positions and text from The Kama Sutra, India's Ananga Ranga, Tunisia's The Perfumed Garden and China's Tao. She sets a position across the page from the name and a narrative. The titles of even the most mundane positions are creative enough to ignite passion in bored lovers.

The position descriptions are less insert tab A into slot B and more about how tab A should move and feel inside slot B. Hooper includes specific suggestions for many positions for each partner to enhance the excitement. Some of the suggestions are how to move, while others ask you to focus on a certain body part of your lover's or a particular sensation inside your own.

Hooper invites couples to “open the book at random and try the first sex position you come across,” and after attempting to read this like a regular book, I have to agree with her.

Too many of the positions differ mainly in name to make this a truly compelling sequential read. The value of this book, however, is not as a coherent text, but more of a sampler menu of sexual delicacies. In this vein, my favorite part will definitely be the very thorough index which will allow me to quickly find my past favorites.

I found The Kama Sutra for 21st Century Lovers to be an excellent mix of a bedside sexual position guide|Kama Sutra - Sexual Positions for Him and for Her and a tool to help bring more sensuality to relationships. Anne Hooper should be commended for bringing together beautiful words and artful pictures in an effort to bring pleasure to her readers.